Factors associated with nurses’ challenges in providing oral care at Oulu University Hospital, Finland

To investigate factors associated with nurses' challenges in providing oral care to infection- sensitive patients. Material and methods: A total of 114 nurses from four internal medicine wards and one oncology ward participated in the study. Data were collected using a questionnaire containing six items about challenges in providing oral care to patients. A multivariate linear regression model was used to analyze the association between explanatory variables and challenges in oral care. Results: Practical nurses reported more challenges in evaluating patients' oral problems compared to registered nurses (B = 1.8, p ≤ 0.01). Nurses reporting fairly good or poor oral health reported more challenges in managing resisting patients than those who reported good oral health (B = 1.1, p < 0.05). Higher self- efficacy in Practical skills was associated with fewer challenges related to having a lack of knowledge about cleaning a patient's mouth (B= -0.9, p ≤ 0.01) and evaluating patients' oral problems (B = -0.5, p ≤ 0.01). Higher self-efficacy in Confidence to detect oral problems was associated with fewer challenges in managing resisting patients (B= -0.6, p ≤ 0.01) and evaluating patients' oral problems (B = -0.5, p ≤ 0.001). Conclusions: Nursing education, self-perceived oral health, and self-efficacy were associated with perceived challenges.